Professor Pedro Fernandes - Tukaha BJJ (Auckland)

JiuJitsu is my life. I teach and train everyday. It changed me for the better and made me the man I am today. I am so thankful to be able to teach JiuJitsu for a living" - Professor Pedro Pacheco Fernandes

Where it all began...

I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1974. Trained Judo for a couple of years at 5 years of age. When I was 16 I took on “Luta Livre Esportiva” (a Brazilian form of submission wrestling). After one year training Luta Livre, my family moved to Florianópolis, the capital of the state of Santa Catarina in the south of Brazil. As we established in this new town, I realised my neighbour, Antonio Claudio Collares “Tonicão”, a black belt under Rolls Gracie, was in fact the only operational Jiu Jitsu black belt in the whole state. I immediately started training with him, this was 1991.

I started coaching Jiu Jitsu in Brazil back in 1993 as an assistant coach, when Murilo Rupp Jr and Sergio de Sá, my main teachers and Tonicão's top students, founded Ataque Duplo JiuJitsu in Florianópolis. Ten years later I migrated to New Zealand to follow my dream of teaching the Gentle Art overseas. In 2005 I founded Tu Kaha JiuJitsu academy in Auckland.

At TuKaha JiuJitsu we are a family. My students quickly become close friends, and although we care about each other we take our training seriously and train hard.

Master “Tonicão” awarded me all my belts, with the help of Murilo Rupp Jr and Sergio de Sá including my black belt in a ceremony that took place in October 2002.

Some of Pedro's Amazing Achievements:

Pan Pacific champion nogi 2010;

Pan Pacific champion weight 2014;

Pan Pacific champion weight, open weight 2017;

NZ National champion 2018;

"I met Jordan from Hyperfly Aus/NZ on the Gold Coast when I went to represent the NZ team on a competition he was sponsoring. He was an awesome host and looked after us so well. We became good friends and kept in touch.
A year later he invited me to be a part of the Hyperfly Team and I Couldn't be more proud to represent it. The Hyperfly gear is world class and I feel humbled and very lucky to be a part of the team" - Professor Pedro Pacheco Fernandes